"SHA services will adapt and expand to meet the projected COVID‐19 patient demand, while continuing to deliver essential services to non‐COVID‐19 patients throughout the duration of the event," according to the SHA's COVID-19 readiness plan, released publicly on Wednesday.

Additional long term care beds have been secured at Parkridge Centre and the Geriatric Unit, while SHA-owned and affiliated long term care sites are expanding capacity.

SHA has modelled three scenarios for the pandemic, in which one person with COVID-19 would infect an average of 2.4 people, 2.76 people or 4.0 people.

That means between 153,000 to 408,000 total cases and 3,075 to 8,370 deaths. Based on an estimated population of 1.18 million, the infection rates are 13 per cent under the lowest model, 22.2 per cent under the middle model and 34.5 per cent under the highest model.

The modelling is not a prediction, but a range of what-if scenarios to guide planning, according to the report.

Current interventions have made a difference and the most important variable to save lives public compliance with isolation measures, physical distancing and hand washing, the SHA said.